Kuberton

Abandoned and then reinhabited, the place invites you to visit. riving from Marusici to Sterna, after the turn leading to Vrnjak, a road on the left climbs to Kuberton. It is 1.5 km long and passes through Gomila Donja and Buslete villages. Prehistoric graves have been found in both Gomila villages. Kuberton is situated on the top of a hill, in a beautiful landscape with many chestnut trees. The church was dedicated to St. Lawrence and a wooden altar is still there; the rest of the inventory has mostly been stolen. Monsignor Parentin remembers a very precious object which once belonged to the church: a procession cross galvanized with copper, with reliefs on both sides and a bronze crucifix, with a built-in enameled plate displaying celestial symbols on a blue background, on the back.

The cross was made in the 13th century, and its present whereabouts are unknown. In 1655 a sealed parchment from 1543 was found in one of the altars of the Kuberton church. It documented dedication of the church by Pier Paolo Vergerio, a renegade Bishop of Koper. Kuberton was a part of the Sterna church district, and it was a fief of the bishops of Novigrad.

In the 13th century it belonged to Filip di Cosiliaco, a vassal of Count Mainard III of Gorizia. In 1250 he confirmed to of Andrea de Cirlago's descendants that he had sold the property to their father. In the 16th century the area was annexed by the Venetian Republic, and Kuberton became property of the Vergerio family. In 1585 it was sold to the Del Bello family, who gave it away to a certain Gropp of Piran as a part of their daughter's dowry. As a private property, Kuberton had its own jurisdiction until the fall of Venice in 1797. After that it shared Sterna's and Groznjan's destiny. It had a school, various trade shops and many farms, but after World War II many people emigrated to Italy and it remained empty, gradually turning to ruins. In the last several years some houses have been renovated and the place has slowly started to live again.